Take Your Birthday
by aiyumi
Summary: Persona 5. Yuki Mishima, the creator of the Phantom Thieves Request Channel website, seems a bit down lately. His birthday is approaching, and what better gift to cheer him up than a surprise coming from the Phantom Thieves themselves?


A/n: this is a story about Yuki Mishima, the Moon Arcana Soci-er, Cooperation character revealed on the live stream event on July 19, 2016.

Yuki seems to be an interesting character. When I watched the trailer for the first time, I thought he was kind of suspicious. But then again, all the Moon SLs so far had been a bit shady in the beginning, like Nozomi in P3 with that cult thing, Shinjiro (I haven't played P3P and don't exactly know what his issue was, but Shinji is Shinji :P), and Ai in P4 who acted arrogantly at first. But in the end, they turned out to be good people, and tended to make me want to get closer to them and help them with their issues. I'm guessing it'll be similar with Yuki, and I can't help but want to trust him. So, let's give him some bonding time with his Phantom Thieve schoolmates! (even though he doesn't know it's them :P )

Edit (2016/09/06): I had to change some things in the story because Ryuji isn't in the same class as Yuki and MC like I had initially thought. And it looks like in canon Yuki figures out the Phantom Thieves' identities quite early, but whatever! :P And someone asked me why Yusuke isn't here, even though he's supposed to join the gang before Makoto does. It's because I wanted to keep it only among the Syujin students. That's it.

The usual "gotchas:" I'm bad at descriptions, and English isn't my primary language.

* * *

Take your Birthday

Written by Aiyumi

Disclaimer: Persona and all related characters are property of Atlus, Inc. Any trademarks that may be referenced in this fan fiction are properties of their respective owners. I am just a fan and do not have any relations to said people/companies.

It was a lazy afternoon. The second year Phantom Thieves from Syujin plus Makoto and Morgana were discussing random subjects around a table at Cafe Leblanc.

"Is it just me, or is there something wrong with Mishima?" Ann asked. "He seems to be down lately. I wonder if something happened. Leader, I saw that he comes to talk to you from time to time. Do you know of anything?"

"Yeah, he's had a bad week." Their leader answered. "Lots of bad luck and embarrassing stuff, both at home and at school. Yesterday he was late to school. He told me it was because his cellphone's battery ran out and the alarm clock app didn't go off. To make things worse, in his haste he mixed up the materials and brought the wrong textbooks to school."

Ann nodded. "So that's why you were helping him in class yesterday..."

"Ugh." Ryuji grimaced. "Getting a warning for being late to school, mixing the materials up... I know how all that feels..."

"And today, in P.E. he fell face first on the ground and almost the whole class laughed at him. Poor Mishima..." Ann commented.

"Mishima... Mishima..." Makoto muttered to herself, then addressed the 2-D students. "Wait, your classmate... you mean Yuki Mishima, the one that created the Phantom Thieves Request Channel website, right? I remember having checked his profile yesterday, when I was reading about his tardiness warning. If I remember right, his birthday is coming... in two days."

Ann clasped her hands. "Hey, what if we give him a birthday present and try to cheer him up? I bet he isn't expecting any of his classmates to know when his birthday is. I think he'd be surprised!"

"Any of his classmates? No, I have a better idea," their leader said.

"Huh?" Ann looked at him questioningly.

"Hmm? Are you thinking what I'm thinking you are?" Morgana, who was in cat form and had been sitting quietly on a chair until now, finally spoke. "If so, then that'd be awesome!"

"Probably." A smirk formed on their leader's face. "Let's send him a little surprise. I guess it's about time we officially showed our avid supporter some recognition..."

"You mean, to send him a gift?" Ryuji asked.

"Yeah, to his home." The leader confirmed. "We'll need his address, though."

"In that case, I'll check the papers again tomorrow and get his address." Makoto offered.

"Whoa, awesome. That's our Student Council President!" Ryuji cheered.

"Then, it's settled." The leader nodded in satisfaction. "With this, I hope he'll get some motivation back."

* * *

Yuki Mishima stared blankly at his computer's screen. He felt miserable. Nothing good had happened to him that week. His mother had yelled at him for the warning he got at school. His teachers had scolded him for not bringing the textbooks to class. The memory of the whole class laughing at his mishap during Physical Education was so humiliating as well. He was trying so hard. Why didn't anything go well for him? His most successful endeavor as of late was the Phantom Thieves Request Channel fan site he had created. He was eager to tell someone about his website, but most people didn't pay much mind to him. Then, he began trying to talk to one of his classmates, the transfer student that had gotten the nickname "Glasses-kun" because of his prominent glasses. When Yuki brought up a rumor about the Phantom Thieves and Glasses-kun showed interest, Yuki was quick to tell him about the website, and was unable to control his enthusiasm about it. His classmate, on the other hand, didn't react much to the site's happenings. Yuki was pretty sure Glasses-kun got annoyed at his constant ramblings, yet he couldn't help but keep talking about the site's success. Despite this, thankfully, when Yuki mixed up his materials, Glasses-kun was kind enough to help him in class.

The Phantom Thieves Request Channel became quite popular in a short amount of time, with the latest news and gossip about the Phantom Thieves' activities and speculation about their next targets. That made the website one of Yuki's greatest successes. Nothing that he had ever done had become popular before. However, it wasn't enough. Yuki still hadn't gotten any recognition for his work. What he wanted most was for the website to become popular enough to grab the attention of the Phantom Thieves themselves. From the users' comments, many of the requests posted on the website had been fulfilled. To Yuki, this was proof that the Phantom Thieves had indeed been making use of the website's features. For the whole time of the site's existence, Yuki had been hoping that the Phantom Thieves would come out and specifically contact him to congratulate him for the website. That was the main reason for the "Contact the Webmaster" link he had placed on the homepage. However, he still hadn't received a single message in his contact email's inbox, be it from the Phantom Thieves or the general public.

Yuki looked at the date on the screen and sighed. Tomorrow would be his birthday. To anyone else, a birthday should be a good thing. But to him, it was not. It was just a day like any other. No one ever remembered his birthday. Not even his parents, who were always too busy with work and didn't pay much attention to the calendar. Yuki had never told his schoolmates his birthday date, either. This year would be the same. Only he remembered the fact that tomorrow would be his birthday. Maybe he would be better off if he forgot about it as well...

The time was 10:45 P.M. Yuki shut his computer down, and went to bed.

The Mishima family slept peacefully that night. No one noticed when a black cat jumped over the wall into their backyard and managed to slip an envelope into their mailbox.

* * *

In the morning, Yuki was ready to leave his house and head to school. On his way out, he noticed the corner of an envelope sticking out of the family's mailbox. He took the envelope and looked it over. The first thing that he noticed was that it was addressed to him! Who could have sent him a letter? No one came to mind. Curious, he turned the envelope over to check who had sent it. However, the envelope's other side was blank. There was no sender...

That was a bit weird and scary at the same time. Who could have sent it? And for what purpose? Yuki decided to open it and try to find out. He opened the envelope and shakily retrieved its content. Rather than finding a letter, though, he found a card. A card whose appearance Yuki knew all too well, since it was similar to the ones that sometimes appeared on the news, and contained a warning indicating that the Phantom Thieves would strike.

"This is...!" Yuki uttered, a bit anxious about looking at the text on the card. He took a few seconds to gather the courage to look at it. It read:

"To the Request Channel's webmaster

On behalf of the whole Phantom Thieves team, I would like to thank you for taking the initiative of creating this website. We have been following the Channel for a while, and it is very gratifying to see that so many people believe in us and support our cause. We thank you for your continued support and dedication, and wish you success in your endeavors, including but not limited to the website.

PS: last but not least, the whole team wishes you a happy birthday.

Sincerely,

The Phantom"

"Th-the Phantom Thieves...? F-for real?" Yuki's heart beat uncontrollably fast, tears formed in his eyes, and the card almost fell from his trembling hands.

The Phantom Thieves had contacted him, and not through his website's contact page. They had actually gone to the trouble of sending him a card! Yuki hadn't written any personal information on his website. How did they find out his name, and most importantly, his address? Were the Phantom Thieves really the ones who sent him the card? It was hard to believe what happened, but Yuki wanted to believe it was indeed them. It couldn't be anyone from his family, since they didn't know about the website. He hadn't given his address to anyone in school, either. The Phantom Thieves must have some special method of finding their targets' locations, Yuki supposed. It had to be them...

The more Yuki got convinced that the card's senders were really the Phantom Thieves, the happier he became. They even wished him a happy birthday! No one that he knew personally ever remembered his birthday. And the Phantom Thieves, some people he hadn't even met, were aware of it. That was simply amazing! The Phantom Thieves were awesome! Yuki gently squeezed the card in his hand. It was a precious gift. Getting it had made his day. This was already his happiest birthday in who knows how many years. It was too good to be true, and Yuki could only hope that it wasn't just a dream.

* * *

Yuki had a bounce in his step when he entered the classroom. "Morning!" He greeted Glasses-kun upon passing him.

"You look cheerful today." Glasses-kun noted, with a hint of amusement on his face.

Yuki was eager to talk about his mysterious birthday surprise, the Phantom Thieves, their recognition of his efforts... but the chimes rang and signaled that he should take his seat. "My day's been great so far!" He only said instead.

"Good to hear."

As soon as Yuki took his seat, the teacher arrived and class began.

* * *

Yuki had trouble focusing in class because he kept thinking about the card, but luckily, no teacher picked him to answer questions. But then, Geography class came, and the teacher asked them to do a group assignment. The groups should have from two to four people. Yuki hated group assignments. He was usually the member who was forced to do all the work, and with the luck he had, it was common for him to lose or forget sheets from the assignment somewhere, which caused the group to get bad grades and the blame to fall on him.

"Pssst. Hey. Mishima." It was... Takamaki, the beautiful quarter American girl. She was trying to get his attention.

Yuki found it unusual. That girl rarely exchanged words with him. "Yeah?"

"Wanna join our group? We have two people, two slots left."

"Why?" The groups should have from two to four people. Her group already had two, and had no need to include him.

"Why not?" She shot back. "You looked kinda lonely there."

"Um, a-alright."

The group's leader was Glasses-kun, and accepted Yuki into the group with no problem. They agreed to begin their research in the library after class.

* * *

Their research at the library turned out very different from any other group assignments Yuki had took part in. Unlike the other groups, that one's members actually focused on doing their part. Which meant that, this time around, he wouldn't need to do work meant for four people by himself.

Yuki noticed something. "Um, Takamaki, I saw that you've been calling him 'Leader' all the time, even before this group was formed. Why is that?"

"Oh, as you might also have noticed, we did other group assignments together before. We began calling him that, and it stuck." Takamaki explained.

"Ah, I see..." That explanation satisfied Yuki, and soon he was calling the guy "Leader" as well.

They continued their assignment. Takamaki could be rather talkative if given the chance, but their leader was indeed a man of few words, who only spoke when necessary. Yuki had thought the guy was only like that while forced to endure his ramblings about problems or the Request Channel website, but that didn't seem to be the case. And it didn't seem to be just because they were inside a library, either. The leader seemed to be normally quiet. Come to think of it, it was strange that Yuki had ended up trying to spark conversation and telling about the website to him, out of all people. It was as though he had chosen the wrong person to try to converse with.

"Ah, finally." Takamaki yawned once they had left the library. "How about we grab something to eat?"

"Sounds good." The leader agreed.

"I'll invite Sakamoto, if you don't mind." Takamaki's eyes wandered between the leader and Yuki.

"Uh, sure." Yuki agreed. Sakamoto was an infamous troublemaker, but if the gentle and friendly Takamaki wanted to invite him, then maybe he wasn't that bad.

Takamaki phoned Sakamoto, and they met up with him near the school's exit.

"Where should we go?" Takamaki asked.

"I thought you'd tell us that," Sakamoto said.

"I thought you'd have a suggestion." Takamaki shot back.

"Anywhere's fine." Sakamoto spoke lazily.

Takamaki was unsatisfied with that answer. "Uh, Leader?"

But the leader didn't decide, either. "Mishima, what do you suggest?"

"Ah! M-me?" Yuki hadn't expected the question to be thrown at him. "Uh, I'll go wherever you all go..."

"..."

"..."

Everyone traded awkward glances. No one seemed willing to decide where to go.

The leader sighed. "Let's keep moving and decide along the way."

They left the school grounds and were walking on the street.

"So, Yuki. How's it goin'?" Sakamoto asked Yuki.

"Uh, I'm doing great." Yuki smiled, in a good mood. "Ah, I haven't told anyone about this, but today's actually my birthday."

"Hey, happy birthday, then!" Sakamoto grinned.

"Sorry that we've only made you study today, even after school..." Takamaki apologized.

"No worries. I had a lot of fun today. It's been a happy birthday so far."

"Will you have a party at home?" Takamaki asked.

Yuki deflated a bit. "... I doubt it. It's been years since I had any kind of birthday party."

"Not even a cake?" Sakamoto seemed incredulous.

"No, nothing. Not even my family remembers the date anymore."

"Ouch. That sucks," Sakamoto said. "It's been a while since I don't have birthday parties either, but I at least get a cake."

"It's decided." The leader spoke out of nowhere. "We need some cake."

"Ah!" Yuki gasped at the leader's unexpected input. "You were listening...?"

"Of course."

"He's always alert," Sakamoto said. "This means that you can't badmouth him when he's nearby. Even if you think he isn't listening, he actually is."

"I heard that." The leader directed a disapproving glare at Sakamoto.

"See?"

To which Takamaki chuckled.

Well, at least now Yuki had a reason to believe that his ramblings about the website weren't falling to deaf ears.

On their way, Yuki failed to notice some small details, like the black cat that had been hiding in the leader's bag the whole time, or the leader using his cellphone to text their Student Council President and informing her where they were going.

They entered a sweets shop. Yuki nearly froze in fear when he noticed their school's Student Council President looking at the sweets on display. She was really strict and intimidating.

"Good afternoon, senpai." Takamaki greeted her and caused her to turn her attention to them, much to Yuki's despair.

"Oh. Good afternoon." The President looked at the group critically. "On your way back from school, I see."

"W-we've just finished a group assignment a-and... decided to hang out for a bit." Yuki tried to make the President's expression soften by telling her how well-behaved students they were.

"Today's his birthday, and we decided to have some cake. Wanna join us?" Sakamoto asked bluntly.

"H-hey, Sakamoto...!" Yuki was frightened at the President's possible reaction to Sakamoto's boldness.

"Hm, sure." Surprisingly, the President's expression softened. "I was looking at the sweets on display and nothing caught my interest, but a cake sounds good." She turned to Yuki. "Oh, and happy birthday."

"Um, th-thanks..."

They soon found out that the shop didn't have a full cake, and they had to buy slices of cake for everyone.

"Well, better than nothing, I guess." The leader seemed a bit disappointed.

Yuki didn't mind. "It's okay! It's different from the 'tradition,' but it's already much more than I could hope for."

By tradition, Yuki should make a wish before blowing the candle. However, since they didn't have a candle, Yuki decided to make a wish while eating the cake. He smiled dreamily as he wished to be able to meet the Phantom Thieves in person someday.

Everyone enjoyed their slices of cake, and Yuki didn't notice the black cat munching on a piece of cake under the leader's chair.

* * *

"Ah, I forgot something!" Takamaki stomped on the ground in frustration outside the sweets shop. "We didn't take a picture!"

"Then, we do it now."

To Yuki's surprise, the ever so quiet leader stopped a random man on the street and asked him to take a picture of the whole group. Not even the Student Council President was able to escape from the cellphone's camera.

"Awesome!" Yuki exclaimed upon receiving the picture on his cellphone. "Thanks a lot, everyone! Today was a great day. I can't remember the last time I'd had so much fun!"

"Yeah, it was lots of fun." Sakamoto agreed. "We all should hang out again!"

The leader nodded.

"And do group assignments together again, too." Takamaki added. "It wasn't that bad."

"Sure!" Yuki chuckled. He was glad he had finally found a good group to do assignments with.

"Well, if you excuse me, I have to get going. I still have a lot of things to do," the Student Council President said.

"Uh, thanks for your time. See you at school, senpai." Yuki had to admit that her company wasn't that bad.

They chatted a bit more and parted ways. Only when Yuki arrived home, he realized he somehow hadn't told anyone about the Phantom Thieves' card. Well, it was probably better that way. He wouldn't want people to disbelieve him and ruin his great mood.

Back to his computer, Yuki downloaded the newly-taken birthday picture from his cellphone and took a better look at it on the big screen. In there, he and Takamaki stood to the leader's left, while Sakamoto and the Student Council President stood to the leader's right. Meanwhile, although almost unnoticeable, a black little cat was in the background giving the camera a sideways look. It was a special picture. Yuki didn't remember when was the last time he had had an enjoyable time hanging out with other kids. That birthday had been different from any other. It was a day to remember, and Yuki would treasure both the card and the picture. Unbeknownst to him, the wish he made while eating the cake had already come true, and he had actually hung out and taken a picture with the Phantom Thieves.


End file.
